On Thursday the U.S. Olympic Committee chose Boston as America’s bidding city for the 2024 Olympics. Beantown beat out San Francisco, Washington D.C., and Los Angeles in the Olympic sweepstakes. The latter’s loss is a mild surprise, considering LA’s Olympic experience: the city has hosted the Games twice, and has plenty of venues already built. Not that Boston has no Olympic attractions. Beach volleyball in Boston Common and field hockey at Harvard Stadium sound cool. The city is pretty compact. Hopefully they’ll find some use for Fenway Park. (Equestrian events? Yankees fans might appreciate horses crapping all over the outfield).

The host city won’t be named until 2017, and Boston’s rival bidders potentially include Rome, Casablanca, Paris, Nairobi, Doha and Berlin. While many Bostonians are excited about the the prestige and emotional lift that an Olympic win would provide, critics…

In late 1979, I walked away from my first marriage. It was a friendship which should have stayed a friendship. Regardless, it had yielded a son and in years to come would produce a lovely granddaughter. Clearly, it was meant to be, even if it were not meant to last.

Off to Israel I went with my son where I remained for 9 years. While I was away, Garry wrote me. Every week, 2 or 3 letters arrived in my mail box. Fan mail. As that second marriage fell apart, I lived from letter to letter, carrying the most recent one with me until the paper on which it was written fell apart.

I wrote letters to Garry too and when I got back to the States, I found he had saved them. He had a drawer full of my letters. I don’t think either Garry or I has written a letter to anyone else since.

LOS ANGELES (CBS SF) — San Francisco 49ers offensive lineman Jonathan Martin was at a Los Angeles shopping center Thursday when he reportedly helped subdue an alleged shoplifter at a Versace store by punching him until he complied with a security guard.

On Thursday afternoon, Martin told Yahoo! Sports that he and a friend were out shopping at the Beverly Center at the moment two men were shoplifting several purses at the Versace Collection store.

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While one shoplifter got away, Martin said that he ran into the store and helped the security guard in corralling the second alleged shoplifter, who was much larger. Martin then punched the man “five to eight times” until he went down. He said he wanted to do just enough to get the man to stop fighting so that he could be subdued.

Martin, who gained attention at the center of the Miami Dolphins bullying controversy told…

As thousands of supporters clad in the red, white and green of Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan’s People’s Democratic Party thronged the formal launch rally of his reelection campaign in Lagos on Thursday, thousands more were fleeing for their lives in the country’s northeast, where an ongoing militant offensive, launched on Jan. 3, has killed scores. Such twinned scenes of jubilation and carnage are likely to be a regular feature in Nigeria over the coming weeks, as the country gears up for Presidential and general elections on Feb. 14,—even as the Boko Haram militant group gains ground in a campaign that took more than 10,000 lives last year, and has driven more than 1.5 million people from their homes.

Residents of Baga, a small town on the shores of Lake Chad, and some sixteen surrounding villages fled on foot or by boat as members of Boko Haram razed buildings and stalked…

The Green Bay Packers should not have a problem with Aaron Rodgers playing against the Dallas Cowboys Sunday at Lambeau Field in the divisional round playoff game. The MVP favorite played all about a handful of plays during the regular season.

Rodgers does not seem any worse Friday after practicing Thursday. There was never really any doubt of his availability for the game. But, if there were any concerns to his effectiveness, the team feels better about it.

He participated in 50 to 60 percent of the snaps during 11-on-11 drills, according to head coach Mike McCarthy. There will be one more practice for the team on Saturday this week.

?(Rodgers) came through the practice with everything OK (and) feels good today,? McCarthy said. ?Obviously we?re not practicing today, but he?s progressing forward, and I feel he will be available for the game.?

Thursday, the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) asked the public to make special mittens to koalas that had been injured in the brushfires raging throughout Southern Australia. The organization even provided a pattern.

“Injured koalas typically come into care with severe burns, especially on their paws, caused by contact with burning trees or from fleeing across fire grounds,” the IFAW told the Guardian.

“These injuries need treatment with burns cream and paws need to be protected with special cotton mittens. Just like any burns victim, koalas’ dressings need changing daily, meaning a constant supply of mittens is needed…

For Knicks fans, the rebuilding scenario isn’t new. Since 1973 — the last time the Knicks won an NBA title — this team has been trying to build another champion. And all these efforts remind us of this standard history lesson: Those who do…